


Storms

by WordMusician



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-16 23:49:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10582014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordMusician/pseuds/WordMusician
Summary: A meteorological bully meets the Oncoming Storm when the TARDIS lands the Doctor and Rose inside a shed in the midst of a vicious (and sentient?) thunderstorm on a backwater planet.





	1. We're Not in Kansas Anymore

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing of Doctor Who except a deep and abiding respect. This story idea came from a combination of listening to the soundtrack of Fantasia and watching some very black clouds roll over our town. My first attempt at a proper adventure. Comments are greatly appreciated.

Rose stared out the small window at the storm. She pressed her hand flat against the glass and imagined that the wild wind was pushing back at her palm. Rain drummed heavily on the roof overhead. Lightning lit the open countryside briefly. Another thunder clap followed close behind.

“Lucky the TARDIS materialized in here and not out there,” sniffed the Doctor, peering over her shoulder and making a face at the weather. “I’d prefer sporting swimming trunks if I’m going to get that wet.”

“So, do we wait out the storm in here then?” She turned her back on the window just as another flash of lightning cast her in an unearthly glow. “How long do you think it will last, Doctor?”

“I’ll take some readings to see…” His next words were drowned out by a peal of thunder but Rose could read his lips well enough to make out “storm cell.” He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and held it overhead. He looked like a coat clad lightning rod and not for the first time, Rose was glad they were safe inside the shed. “Can’t be,” he muttered as he checked the readings and prepared to take a second scan.

The concussion of a very close lightning strike knocked them to their knees. The window next to them imploded with a shower of glass and driving rain. “Come on!” the Doctor shouted and grabbing Rose’ hand sprinted for the TARDIS.

The storm’s wind seemed to suck at them, slowing their dash to safety. Rose slipped on the rain slick floor boards, nearly pulling her hand out of the Doctor’s iron grip. “Hold on!” he commanded and lunged toward the blue doors.

Once inside, it took both of them to push the TARDIS’ door closed. The wind seemed to scream and howl at them in fury. Wide eyed and panting they stared at each other for a moment before matching grins spread across their faces in shared excitement. Not your typical storm. There was an adventure here waiting to happen.

“You’re all wet,” Rose laughed reaching up to push his sodden locks back off his forehead.

“You’re soaked through,” the Doctor responded and let his gaze travel down her clinging wet sweater and plastered jeans. For a moment, the relational electricity that sparked between them was as fierce as any storm. 

Suddenly he was bounding away toward the console. “Right then! Let’s see what we have here.” He tapped some keys and then stared up at the screen. He pulled out his specs and perched them on the end of his nose. His raised eyebrows and pursed lips communicated his surprise.

“What is it?” Rose asked following him. She twisted her hair to wring out some water. Silently she sent the TARDIS an apology for dripping all over her deck. The Doctor wouldn’t think to do that, but Rose knew how the TARDIS liked to keep things spit spot. Their trail of rain water vaporized in moments and Rose sensed the TARDIS was graciously dismissing her concern.

“Weather map and this,” he tapped a pulsing red mass on the screen, “this is us.”

“But, that’s crazy,” she protested. Aside from that one pulsing red area the screen was a tranquil pale green.

“Localized electromagnetic disturbance,” he announced. The Doctor tapped a few more keys and the red mass suddenly filled most of the screen. “Now that is very interesting. Very, very interesting indeed.”

“What? What’s interesting?”

The Doctor traced the perimeter of the red mass with a long finger. “I just zoomed in on our location. This is the dimension of the building the TARDIS landed us in.”

Rose gaped at the screen, before shooting the Doctor an incredulous stare. “Do you mean that whole big storm is inside the shed with us?”

“Yep,” enthused the Doctor, popping his p’s in his typical excited manner. “Isn’t that brilliant?” He pulled out his sonic striding back toward the door.

“Doctor! You can’t go back out in that!”

“Oh, I’ll be fine. The TARDIS has extended her temporal force field.” Before Rose could respond he was gone.

Anxiously she looked back at the screen. Sure enough there was a small pale green dot in the center of the red mass. “Keep him safe,” she whispered to the TARDIS console and then ran out after him. Honestly, could they not have at least grabbed some towels first? She really didn’t like the way her clammy clothes were stuck to her skin but she was only momentarily distracted by the thought of a warm shower and dry clothes before she opened the TARDIS door in pursuit of the Doctor.

Rose skidded to a stop in awe. An invisible dome held back a writhing mass of swollen black clouds, rain and lightning. The thunder was still audible but now muffled, as if heard from under water. The Doctor stood at the perimeter of the dome, his sonic screwdriver almost touching the storm’s surface.

“Rose, look at this,” he called over his shoulder. The Doctor waved his hand and the lightning seemed to follow the movement, crashing into the barrier just at the tip of the sonic screwdriver. He gestured with his other hand and a smaller bolt of lightning responded in the same manner. From Rose’s vantage point it appeared that the Doctor was conducting a tempest symphony – almost a scene from Fantasia, only the Doctor looked nothing like Mickey Mouse, even if when Mickey had been dressed as a wizard. “Here, you try,” he invited, beckoning her closer.

Rose hesitantly approached. Coming this close to the force field caused the hair on her arms to stand up with static electricity. She watched fascinated as the clouds gathered in front of her. She stretched out a hand and immediately light arched towards her fingers. She jerked them back on reflex, but then immediately reached forward again for a repeat response from the storm.

The Doctor turned off his screwdriver and pocketed it. “Okay then. It reacted to you too. Not just to a Time Lord or time lord technology then. Good to know.” 

“It’s beautiful,” Rose murmured, making slow gestures and watching the storm track her. The Doctor watched Rose as she watched the storm. It was easy to become jaded with the universe after such a very long life. He always enjoyed seeing his companions experience something new. He felt particular joy when that companion was the incomparable Rose Tyler. The lightning flashes highlighted the contours of her face and he found himself wanting to trace its course across her rapt features. Instead he jammed his hands deep into his suit pockets and contented himself with caressing her with his gaze.

“Why is it doing this, Doctor?” she asked still playing with the clouds and lightning strikes. 

“My guess is it’s a watch dog, or maybe a meteorological antibody. Something designed to protect the planet from intruders. Mind you, it doesn’t seem to differentiate between hostile and peaceful very well, does it?” The Doctor ran a thoughtful hand through his wet hair, ruffling it to encourage it to dry. He glanced back at the TARDIS, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “So why did you bring us here, hmmmmm?” he wondered aloud to his sentient ship.

As soon as the Doctor looked away several things happened at once. The TARDIS doors opened of their own volition and the claxon bell began to chime. “What?!” He took a few steps forward and then spun back just in time to see the storm surge powerfully and breach the force field. It engulfed Rose, lifting her off her feet as she screamed. 

“Rose!” he shouted leaping in her direction, but she was gone and so was the storm. The Doctor stood in the debris of the flattened shed in a pool of bright sunshine. The claxon bell tolled.


	2. Separated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Rose is treated badly by her abductor and may be upsetting for some readers - hence the tags I used. I will not be too graphic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Easter coming this week is very busy. I thought I better send off another chapter while I could.

Rose forced herself to remain perfectly still when she regained consciousness. She was lying in an uncomfortable heap on a hard smooth surface. It was cool beneath her cheek and she couldn’t control a shiver. In fact, she was chilled right through having been thoroughly soaked by the storm. 

Where ever she was, it wasn’t well heated. Cautiously she tensed and relaxed each muscle group to check for injuries. Nothing broken and nothing sprained, she determined to her relief. Next she listened carefully but could hear nothing but the pounding of her own heart. She also realized she couldn’t sense any vibration or movement. Cold and still, that was her environment. Slowly she cracked an eyelid.

All she could see was silver. Floor, walls, ceiling, everything was the same burnished silver. It was difficult to tell the dimensions of the space as everything ran together and other than her, it appeared to be an empty room. There was no door or window and yet Rose had enough light to see by and air to breathe.

Cautiously she pushed herself into a sitting position. Other than being cold and wet she was no worse for her abduction. 

 

The Doctor ran into the TARDIS, coat tails flying, converse slapping. He threw himself at the controls, pushing buttons and twirling dials. “Okay my girl, show me where Rose went.” Abruptly the claxon bell fell silent, but the screen remained blank. “Come on!” he slapped the side of the display. “I know you have a temporal fix on Rose at all times, don’t lie to me.”

In response, the TARDIS replayed in hologram, the last few moments before Rose had followed him outside to study the storm. “Keep him safe,” he heard Rose’s image say and for a brief second her eyes flickered gold.

“No, no, no you don’t!” the Doctor shouted. “I don’t care what Rose told you. You are my TARDIS and you’ll do as I say.” He began moving dials and levers, causing sparks and a wheezing moan from the ship, but it only caused the hologram to replay Rose’s last wish. The Doctor ignored the ship’s protests and continued to manhandle the controls. “You know I would rip the universe apart to find her and if I have to start with you, by Rassilon, I’ll do it, don’t think I won’t!” 

The On Coming Storm began to darken his face and his knuckles were white where they gripped the embattled machine. The storm that had taken her was nothing compared to what was building up in the last of the Time Lords. Temporal energy rippled around him, invisibly snapping and sparking off the ends of his hair. “I’ll pry apart your heart with my own two hands and swallow the Time Vortex myself,” he threatened through gritted teeth. 

Icy rage and heated desperation wrestled within. Then with a great shudder he gazed up at the glowing time rotor and allowed some of the fear that was squeezing his hearts to creep into his voice. “Please,” he whispered, “This is Rose.”

The TARDIS’ lights flickered briefly and then the time rotor slowly began to move.

“Yes!” he crowed triumphantly and planted a hurried kiss on the display screen. “Oh you beautiful, beautiful girl you! My brilliant beautiful girl, I knew you’d do it.” Then reminiscent of an earlier time and a different face, he vowed to no one and everyone, “Rose Tyler, I’m coming to get you.”

 

Without a sound the silver room began to liquefy and melt into a ring around her like so much mercury escaping an old thermometer. Rose scrambled to her feet ready to meet this new challenge. Before her appeared a man-sized jelly fish creature. Long tendrils floated beneath a large gelatinous mass. It was a shiny semi translucent silver and a rainbow of colours illuminated its visible internal organs.

“Good. You are awake, my elemental child.” Rose wasn’t sure she had actually heard the creature or if it had projected speech into her mind, since the creature had no discernible face with mouth movement. She bristled at the idea of a telepathic captor and tried to project thoughts of outrage and demands for freedom. If the thing understood her, it gave no sign. “I sent my pet to seek out another energy source and it brought me you. You appear to be a human based on preliminary scans and you are definitely not from this planet. A more detailed examination will reveal the truth, I’m sure.”

Before Rose could even scream, the liquid silver surged towards her. It slid under her clothing and into every orifice. In a panicked moment Rose felt herself gagging, drowning and smothering all at once. She flailed about helplessly until all went mercifully black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to structure this story like a TV episode, so at the end of the chapter you could "insert commercial" here. I hope I am making my shifts in POV clear as our heros have been separated and the story needs to advance along two tracks. While this is not cannon compliant, I don't think it deviates enough to be an AU. Comments?


	3. Dining with the Natives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor learns things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not a lot of action in this chapter but plot information abounds.

The Doctor strode out of the TARDIS with sonic screwdriver in hand, scanning for Rose. Nothing. However, this was where the TARDIS had brought him and he was confident the ship was co-operating with him once more. The TARDIS was almost as fond of Rose as he was, so he knew she would do everything possible to help in her rescue despite the earlier reluctance. The fact that his ship and his companion were concerned for his safety warmed the time lord’s lonely hearts, but he had no time or patience for the sentiment. He was a man on a mission. 

Although he knew the name of this planet and its coordinates, this was the first time visiting. He took in his present surroundings. It was a rustic village of sorts. They had materialized next to what the Doctor’s keen nose identified as a barn. Horse, chicken and pig odors assaulted his nostrils.

“An agrarian society,” he announced. He studied the structure before him. “Daub and wattle construction; primitive or medieval at best,” he muttered. It always sounded more impressive when he had a companion there to listen to his deductions. He missed Rose keenly and he flexed his empty hand trying to assuage its ache.

There was the clatter of a dropped bucket to his left. He spun quickly and saw a young girl, about 12 years old, staring at him. She was humanoid, with an orange cast to her skin, dark hair and pale grey eyes, which were currently rounded in fright. An empty wooden bucket rolled at her bare feet.

“Hello! I’m the Doctor,” he said offering his best happy-to-meet-you smile. “Have you seen my friend: a blonde woman, about so high? We got separated and I thought she might have… blown in?”

The girl shook her head. Without taking her eyes off him she bent to pick up the dropped bucket and began to back away.

“Oh don’t go. I’m rather lost you see. Maybe you could point me in the direction of the constabulary, or your mayor, or your leader? Whoever’s in charge?”

“Tabelitha, come away now,” said a short man. He was dressed in the same simple homespun robes. A bit of leather tied back his dark hair revealing faint wings of silver at the temples. Grey eyes carefully studied the Doctor under heavy dark brows. His skin was also orange, but darker than the child’s. The ever curious Doctor wondered if the colouring deepened with age or was the result of prolonged exposure to the elements, but before he could ponder aloud, the girl child spoke up.

“He has a metal stick,” Tabelitha whispered to the man.

“Yes child, I can see. Now run along. Chores are over.”

Casting a couple of curious glances over her shoulder, the girl ran off into the gathering dusk.

The Doctor tried again to be friendly. “I’m the Doctor. Just passing through, looking for my friend. And you are…”

“Menix,” the man replied folding muscled arms over his barreled chest. “You should not be here.”

“Really? Well as I said, just looking for my lost friend. Soon as I find her we can be on our way.”

“You bring metal. You should not be here.” Menix shifted his stance. He appeared uneasy as though unsure whether he should subdue or repel this tall pale skinned stranger.

“Metal?” the Doctor casually flipped the sonic screwdriver in the air once before slipping it into his coat. “Oh that’s just my screwdriver. Harmless. Well, when I say harmless I really should say useful.” The Doctor was casting a considering look about as he spoke. Everything was made of wood, stone or mud. Given the look of Menix and his language pattern, they were well past the primitive era. There should have been some evidence of metal, at least some simple bronze or iron work. Something was not right here. “What’s wrong with metal?” he asked in a carefully casual tone.

Menix arched a skeptical eyebrow as if that was a very silly question. “Metal brings the storms.” Dismissing the stranger as a fool, he turned as though to follow the child.

“Storms! Yes, exactly,” the Doctor hastened to follow him. “Tell me about the storms. My friend was taken up in one.”

Menix paused and gave him a sympathetic glance. “Then I am sorry for your friend.” He sighed wearily and then suddenly as if remembering his manners offered, “Come. It is time for eating.”

The Doctor followed Menix to a humble cottage. He looked carefully around them as they walked, noticing the continued lack of any metal in the construction of the buildings. He longed to do a scan but based on the other’s comments about metal decided to keep his sonic screwdriver in his pocket. Menix opened the door and gestured the Doctor to precede him. “Manya, my wife,” Menix introduced. “Manya, this is the Doctor. He will be our guest for this meal.”

Manya was nearly as short as her husband and had the same darker orange skin, dark hair and grey eyes. Over her robe she wore an apron. Her hair was braided to one side of her head and hung over her shoulder almost to her waist. She smiled warmly and pointed to the plank table. Obviously she had been forewarned of his possible arrival – probably a report from Tabelitha who was staring at him from the far bench. “Welcome. Sit. We are about to eat.” Manya urged. The Doctor hung his long coat on a peg by the door and accepted their hospitality. Though he was most anxious to hunt for Rose, he knew this was a good opportunity to learn more about where the TARDIS had brought them.

The meal was a simple stew served in a clay pot and eaten out of wooden bowls with wooden spoons. There was also some coarse bread sliced with a flint knife. Along with Menix and Manya two children sat at the table: Tabelitha and a toddler named Jai-Jee. 

The meal was consumed in silence which the Doctor perceived to be a social custom. He noted the curious looks slanted his way and the speaking glances exchanged between the family members. The only one oblivious to the tension at the table was Jai-Jee who waved his spoon enthusiastically at the Doctor and succeeded in flinging a bit of mashed vegetable onto his pinstriped sleeve. With an apologetic grimace, Manya offered him a cloth before scooping up the child and setting him down on the floor to play.

As soon as the table was cleared Tabelitha asked, “Where do you come from, Doctor? Why do you possess metal?”

“Tabelitha!” Manya admonished. “Don’t be rude to our guest.”

“She curious; that’s fine,” The Doctor assured her. “Curiosity is a good thing if it is directed and nurtured. That’s how we learn, how we develop.” He turned to face his young inquisitor. He could not help but smile at her scowling suspicious expression. “I am from far, far away. I am a traveler. Where I come from metal is common, safe and useful. We don’t have the kind of storms you have here.” The Doctor turned back to the adults. “Tell me about your storms.”

Menix and Manya exchanged a glance and seemed to come to an agreement. Menix spoke and Manya settled Tabelitha on her lap. “The storms are alive. They are things of great power. It was not always so. The storms used to be a part of nature, coming in their season, watering the crops. But now they do not follow the seasons or bless our fields. They hunt.”

“Hunt?” The Doctor was intrigued. His mind was quickly sifting through his mental catalogue of known species and subspecies in hopes to narrow down potential challengers. Manipulating weather patterns was child’s play, but sentient creatures that presented as thunderstorms?

“They come and destroy. They take things up in their whirlwinds.”

“They took Tabiniah!” Tabelitha cried burying her head in her mother’s shoulder. “He was my twin.”

“Our son.”

“Oh, I am terribly sorry, truly I am. When did this start to happen? When did the storms change?”

Menix’s shoulders slumped and he shook his head. “It is the will of Vizushira. Three harvests ago there was a mighty earthquake and holy Mount Hu collapsed in on itself. We thought it was the end of the world. Many panicked. Our priest called us to fast and to pray that we might be spared. That very night a mighty wind came and swept up every scrap of metal. Nothing was safe. Shoes were pulled off horse’s hooves. Earrings were ripped out of women’s ears.” Manya pulled her braided hair away from the side of her head to show the Doctor the remains of her torn ear.

“Emi, the wife of our leader had a gold tooth. The wind pulled it right out of her mouth. And broke her neck too,” Manya added sadly.

“Once all the metals were taken, everything became quiet. We mourned the death of Emi and we struggled to build and repair without the use of metal. Winter passed slowly and then just before the planting, our high priest announced that Vizushira was very angry. He had punished us by taking away our tools because we had begun to have faith in our abilities and not in him. He would not bring the blessing rains unless we could first appease him with a sacrifice.”

The Doctor frowned. He did not believe in deities and distrusted any form of ritual sacrifice. “What kind of sacrifice?”

“Life for life,” whispered Manya and she hugged her daughter tightly.  
Menix continued his tale. “We all assembled in the square to learn from our priest what must be done. As the high priest climbed onto the platform, the first great black cloud rose from Mt Hu. It was so great it blocked out the sun. It swept down the mountain and through our village. There was a terrible wind, thunder and lightning. One of the merchants was wearing a robe embroidered with golden thread. He was sucked up into the cloud. It began to rain so hard you could not see your hand before your face. Those who could not get to shelter were in danger of drowning. When it finally stopped, the cloud was gone and so was the merchant with the golden robe. He never returned. Vizushira had taken him.”

“And what? This happens every spring? You just sacrifice a person to this god of yours so you can get a good crop? How do you choose? A lottery I suppose? And you’ve been doing this for what, three whole cycles?” The Doctor was pacing the confines of the small home. He was angry; angry at these silly superstitious people, angry at whatever was manipulating them and very angry because he was positive whoever it was had also stolen Rose. His acute sense of time reminded him that it had been hours since she had disappeared. 

“No!” shouted Menix banging the table, startling Jai-Jee who began to cry. Manya picked him up to sooth him. “We tried to fight! Vizushira had always been a good god, a benevolent god. This was not right. We tried to resist. Good warriors climbed Mt. Hu only to never return. We lost many men. 

And the clouds did not come every planting time. Sometimes it was at harvest. Sometimes it was mid winter’s eve. No pattern; only chaos. Perhaps it would have been easier to bear the sacrifices if we had time to prepare for them. Instead, the storms just come. Usually a prophet could give us a few hours warning at most but I think they were just studying the sky and the mountain. Tabiniah was helping me repair the barn roof when he was taken. We do not always know when the storms will come,” Menix glared pointedly at the Doctor’s long brown overcoat, “But always they come when there is metal exposed to the air.”


	4. Rose Suffers and the Doctor Mounts a Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title says it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: I use the "r" word in the first section. Sorry if this triggers negative associations for anyone.

Rose could not stop crying. She was sobbing and shuddering uncontrollably. As suddenly as she had been invaded she had been released by the liquid silver that was once again her prison. She could dimly make out her own reflection on the burnished surface. She felt mocked. She felt violated. She felt raped.

There was no way of knowing how much time had passed. There was no point of reference in her slick silver cell. She thought about the Doctor and knew that he would rescue her from wherever she was if she could just hold on long enough. She tried to imagine him with her, comforting her, holding her and telling her some awfully fanciful tale to take her mind off the situation. But he wasn’t there; she was alone. Alone with the shock and horror of what had been done to her.

She was at the complete mercy of a giant alien rainbow jelly fish. The absurdity of her captor’s appearance tipped her over the edge and her sobs became giggles of hysteria. 

 

“Metal attracts the clouds, you say?” the Doctor leapt for the door intent on grabbing his coat and sonic screwdriver, but Menix swiftly blocked his way.

“You can’t. You will put our home in danger, perhaps our whole village. I have risked much just by bringing you here tonight.”

Tabelitha was tugging on his arm. “Please, Doctor, don’t summon the storms. They are terrible monsters. Last time they took my brother Tabiniah.”

The Doctor knelt before the little girl and gently brushed away a tear. “No, the last time they took my friend Rose. Two hours and twenty-eight minutes ago.”

Manya joined her husband at the door. “Just this afternoon? But there was no storm this afternoon. It’s been quiet for nearly a moon cycle.”

“Oh, there was a storm alright. Your village isn’t the only area being ravaged. It’s a bit complicated but we arrived right in the middle of a storm. It took Rose and then I followed it here to your village.”

“Our village is in the shadow of Mt Hu. We farm the lower slopes of the holy mountain.”

“And you say that Mt Hu was damaged in an earthquake and then people started disappearing in storm clouds that seem to come from up there. That’s where I need to go. Rose is up there.”

Manya and Menix looked compassionately at the Doctor. Their own grief increased them sympathy for his plight. “Your Rose is lost to you Doctor, just as Tabiniah is lost to us. No one comes back from the storm.”

The Doctor tried to be patient but he was struggling to contain the Oncoming Storm in himself. The Time Lord could feel each precious second as it slipped away from him, furthering the time gap between himself and Rose. Any separation was an irritant; prolonged separation was distraction. Involuntary separation was intolerable. “If Rose was dead, I would know it. In here,” he tapped the side of his head. “It’s complicated. I can’t get a good lock on her right now – too much interference – but I know. She is alive and she will stay that way!” he decreed with passion.

Menix and his family bowed low before the Time Lord. “Forgive us. You accepted shelter beneath our roof and broke bread at our table. We did not recognize you m’lord.”

“Recognize me?” the Doctor was pretty certain they had never met before in any regeneration. What did they know of Time Lords?

“Only Vizushira can commune with another’s mind. We do not presume to know your ways,” Menix explained to the floor.

The Doctor thought quickly. As much as he detested being a presumed god, it had its advantages. He could always set these people straight later. “I have come to deal with the usurper who commands the tormenting storms. I do not steal people. I do not confiscate your metal. I desire that you prosper and develop.” No lie in any of his words, just a careful bit of misunderstanding, he rationalized as his conscience squirmed uncomfortably. There was very little he would not do to rescue Rose Tyler; lying and manipulation hardly counted.

“Praise be to Vizushira! Save us from this terror.”

The Doctor waved away their worship. “Yes, yes. But I now desire your participation and obedience.” The Doctor was very suspicious of the village authorities who had allowed these abductions under the guise of worship. It was his experience that any alien invasion had elicited the help of indigenous traitors. For the sake of expediency, the Doctor wanted to avoid their machinations and go directly to the source and probable site of Rose’s incarceration. 

In rescuing her he would also release any survivors and deal with the villain. He would give the being a chance to change and/or exit, or he would end this. He was the Doctor and he was here to set things right.

He made a mental note to speak with the TARDIS however on her choice of materialization points: honestly, what was wrong with landing on top of this Mount Hu? After today he didn’t think Rose could attribute all their miscalculations to his driving. Not after he told her all about his side of this adventure. No, he felt entirely vindicated even though he was also at the moment vexed and inconvenienced.

The Doctor shrugged into his long coat. “Menix, would you guide me up Mount Hu, at least until I am a safe distance from the village? I think it best if we can avoid any delays from the authorities and powers that be.”

“Of course I will. It is my deep honour to serve. May you find me worthy.”

“No one has ever returned from the mountain since the earthquake,” Manya hugged Menix. “May Vizushira protect you, my love.”

“I want to go,” said Tabelitha. “I am small and quick. I can go where papa cannot. Let me help Vizushira too.”

The parents quickly refused. The Doctor considered, but then chastised himself for thinking of using a child in his quest to save Rose. “Better not, Tabelitha. You need to stay here and watch over your mother and little brother. If I can, I will bring back Tabiniah. I promise. Menix, let’s go. Darkness will be our advantage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day! Only because it used to be one uber chapter that I felt needed breaking but then I couldn't leave you with only the first part. Maybe I need to put them back together? Thoughts? Comments? The aliens come completely from my imagination; I hope I am explaining them well enough.


	5. Rose Learns Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose finally has a conversation with her captor. She doesn't like what she learns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm running with my theory that becoming Bad Wolf had to have changed Rose Tyler on some level. As she was successful in containing that kind of power for the time it took her to make her big speeches and save the Doctor and Jack something must have been happening. We know this because the Doctor absorbed that power from her with a kiss and immediately sent it back to the TARDIS. Just those few seconds was enough to trigger regeneration and he with his "superior Time Lord physiology"! Not sure if Bad Wolf herself will make much of an appearance, but I firmly believe she left her mark on Rose Tyler.

Her hysteria had been replaced by anger. Rose was angry. She had been abused without cause or provocation. Rose had been captured and incarcerated plenty of times in her adventures with the Doctor and there always seemed to be some protocols. Prisoners were always questioned first. Abuse and torture were supposed to come afterwards, not before. And never had she ever been assaulted.

Sooner or later the Doctor would come for her, she was confident of that, but she was getting impatient with the waiting. If that creature had treated her like this, how many others had it tortured? It wasn’t right and it had to stop. Now. 

Alone with her thoughts, she had tried to summon Bad Wolf but the entity remained frustratingly dormant. After the Doctor’s regeneration, Rose enjoyed a deeper bond with the TARDIS. It had helped steady her as she adjusted to her new reality concerning the Doctor. Over time the TARDIS had reminded her of what had happened that fateful day until she remembered enough to talk to the Doctor about it. He’d dodged her questions and tried to deflect her but she’d persisted until she got the full story: she and the TARDIS had united in their bid to rescue the Doctor, and in so doing Rose absorbed the time vortex. This had changed her into Bad Wolf and with that power she defeated the Dalek Empire. But the power was too much for her and the Doctor had to extract it and return it to the TARDIS. That extraction had caused him to regenerate and given Rose partial amnesia.

Even without the time vortex within her, Rose knew that being Bad Wolf had changed her somehow. Her deeper bond with the TARDIS was one indication. She also often had thoughts and ideas that remained just outside of her focus. Suppressed memories? Telepathic energy from her beloved ship or its beloved driver? 

Rose thought that perhaps a part of her was still Bad Wolf but she didn’t mention it because the Doctor had been very uncomfortable discussing any part of that adventure. As long as nothing was hurting her they could go on as before and Rose was happy with that.

She shivered again in her silver cell. She was still cold and even though she felt anger and righteous indignation it did little to raise her body temperature. Being able to call upon Bad Wolf now though would be very nice, Rose thought. Somebody needed to set this monster straight and she really didn’t want to have to wait for the Doctor to rescue her. Who knew how many other people had been taken by the storm “pets”, even since she got here. There could be other cells – odds are there were – and she’d never know since there were no windows or doors or sounds from the outside. 

Aware that she still didn’t know if her captor was telepathic, Rose was hesitant to try and send out thoughts to the TARDIS. Using her frustration and indignation as emotional triggers she once more turned her thoughts inward but if Bad Wolf was there she was being ignored. While Rose was trying to puzzle her way through this mysterious relationship with the time goddess, the silver around her began to shimmer and liquefy once again. In graceful silence it fell away into a circle around her.

“Who are you? I demand to know the name of my captor,” Rose growled as soon as the jelly fish floated into view.

“Ah she speaks!” the jelly fish glowed coral and pink. “My probe revealed your sound making capabilities. You have very nice vocal cords actually. You could sing for me.”

“Not bloody likely,” Rose muttered. “Who are you?”

“I am Larnox.”

“Well, Larry, I demand that you release me at once. You have no right to hold me or conduct your experiments on me. By the order of the Shadow Proclamation…”

“Shadow Proclamation!” The jelly-like body seemed to convulse with laughter and its colours shifted to orange and yellow. “What do you know of the Shadow Proclamation? It has no influence out here – just fading echoes of an ancient people. I am surprised someone like you even knows of the Shadow Proclamation,” it put a sneer in the next word, “Earther.”

“You’d be surprised at what I know.”

“Yes, I suppose I might. You are a very interesting specimen. My scan and probe told me quite a lot about you. Did you know that every strand of you DNA is laced with the Time Vortex itself? How did that happen? I can’t imagine an Earther engineering that masterpiece. Are you someone’s experiment? A pet, like my little treasure finding storms? And more importantly how did you end up here on this rock? You are very far from home.”

Rose remained silent. She still did not know how the Larnox was communicating with her, or exactly what it had learned from its scans and readings. She was secretly thrilled to have her instincts confirmed about having Bad Wolf altering her, but she dared not show it. If it could read her mind, she was in real trouble, but it if couldn’t there was a chance she could reach out to the Doctor or even the TARDIS if only Bad Wolf would wake up… “What do you want with me?”

“Ah, now we get to the real question, don’t we? You, my elemental treasure, have more power in you than half this planet of primitive humanoids combined. I need that power.” The Larnox was now a combination of yellow, blue and green. “I feed off electrical impulses. Did you know the humanoid brain produces electricity? It is enough to sustain me and even help me to heal, but only very, very slowly. I have harvested, but it’s never been adequate for me to escape.”

“What do you mean, you’ve “harvested”?”

“The primitive inhabitants see me as their god. They make appropriate sacrifices and when they fail to do so, I take what I need.”

Rose felt sick to her stomach. “I won’t help you.”

“You have no choice. I will shred your DNA and take ever last thread of Time Vortex from your body. You will be my key to escape this forsaken backwater planet.”

Rose shook her head, fighting the panic that was rising within. She had already experienced the swift execution of this creature’s wishes. May be the Doctor would be too late. Helpless tears rolled down her cheeks. “You can’t do that,” she protested weakly.

The Larnox loomed closer, “Of course I can and I will, but before we begin that procedure, I am wondering about your companion that escaped my hunter. Are you alike? Or is he your master – the architect of your enhanced DNA? Perhaps if I harvest your companion too I will have more than sufficient power to do what I require. Perhaps I will have enough power to do… more.” The colours in his body shifted again. They seemed to be random, but shifted more often if the Larnox was excited. “My probe is sufficient to analyze down to the sub atomic level, to distill all the elements in your body, but sadly it cannot read your thoughts. I want your knowledge as well as your power but your ship should give me that.”

She kept herself from smiling in relief by chewing her bottom lip. If it couldn’t read her thoughts, it didn’t really know about the Doctor, or Bad Wolf or the TARDIS. She had commanded the TARDIS to keep the Doctor safe. Not even the hordes of Gengis Khan could get inside the TARDIS unwelcomed. Its secrets, and therefore the Doctor, would be safe from whatever the creature had planned. “If you’re not reading my mind, how are you talking to me, because I don’t see any mouth,” Rose gestured at the gelatinous form. She wanted to learn all she could about her captor; the Doctor would want to know.

“Radio waves travel on electrical impulses; wireless transmission, but not telepathy. It’s a shame really. I would love to see your thoughts, read your memories before I destroy them. You have traveled, that much I can tell. Perhaps if I learned how you acquired the Time Vortex, I could replicate it. It could be an inexhaustible source of fuel, and worth a fortune.”

Roses’ mind was whirling. She remembered the Doctor’s explanation during the Christmas Invasion, how he was giving off residual time energy after his regeneration, and that the energy had attracted the pilot fish. He had also said that if they captured him, he would be a sufficient source of energy to power their ships for a very long time. Had she become enmeshed in a similar problem? 

“I am sending my pet out to locate your ship and companion. I will wait to harvest the Vortex from your body until they are collected as well. It has been this long, I believe I shall profit most from patience.”

Before Rose could protest, the Larnox withdrew and the silver walls rose up again. “No! You leave him alone!” she shouted to the empty chamber. “You said I was enough to get you out of here, then take it – take me, but leave him alone!” She sank to her knees in defeat. “Please, don’t be greedy.” 

The silver seemed impervious to her voice and her violence. She had tried kicking and clawing. She had felt along trying to find a seam to work against. She wondered how it was that she continued to have enough oxygen, but at least now she understood that it was keeping her alive for a purpose. And where was the light coming from to see by? It was as if the liquid breathed and glowed – a living thing that had crawled around inside her searching out her deepest secrets.

Rose shivered. Her clothes clung damply to her clammy skin. She was chilled on the outside, but a fire was building within. Briefly she considered the idea that she was feverish but then she realized that Bad Wolf was stirring. The threat to the Doctor had triggered something deep within her subconscious. “You might make a battery out of me mate, but you will not have the Doctor.” Roses’ eyes glowed golden but her captor was not there to witness it.


	6. The Gamble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor takes a dangerous short cut to be reunited with Rose.

Except for one suspicious dog which allowed himself to be calmed by Menix’ soft and familiar greeting, their exit was incident free. Once beyond the shadows of the village buildings it was rather easy to navigate the mountain meadow. The sky was clear. Stars and a rising moon gave sufficient light to travel quickly and quietly. Neither men felt the need to talk; each consumed by their own thoughts. The moon was still climbing the night sky when the meadow gave way to rocky slopes.

An hour later the Doctor craned his neck to stare up at the summit of the rock face. The stone had sheared away, almost smooth and over a thousand feet high. “Blimey.” It would take days to scale it and the Doctor didn’t believe Rose had days. Not if the pattern of storms he had been compiling from Menix’s stories was any indication. Briefly the Doctor wondered again why the TARDIS hadn’t materialized up there to save him the trip. They were most definitely having a conversation when this was over.

Decision made, he turned to Menix and clapped him on the shoulder. “This is where we part company. Thank you, Menix. Now, go back to your family. If I can, I will return Tabiniah to you.”

The Doctor flashed him a wink and a grin. As he turned away though to face the mountain, all joviality left his expression. He pulled out his trusty sonic screwdriver, adjusted the setting and aimed it at the mountain top. “Come and get me,” he dared the gathering storm clouds.

  
With a soft “pop” sound, the Doctor landed in a heap just a few feet from where Rose sat.

“Doctor?”

“Rose!”

There was a hurried scramble culminating in a bone crushing hug.

“Alight?” he asked the blonde head buried in his chest. He smiled grimly as she nodded and proceeded to snake her arms in under his open long coat. She was shivering. Stage one hyperthermia and probable dehydration, hunger and fatigue were the Doctor’s silent assessments of his precious companion’s condition. Still, it could have been much, much worse.

“You let yourself be captured?” she asked his lapel.  
“It was the fastest way to affect a rescue/escape. You are on the top of a very high mountain. It would have taken literally days to climb it.”

“That’s why it’s so cold,” Rose reasoned.

“Perhaps,” the Doctor agreed although he had a more grisly idea himself having caught a glimpse of the scenery during his stormy ride. “Tell me what you know.”

Rose looked up at him, eager to share her knowledge and demonstrate her clever fact finding. “It’s a Larnox.”

The Doctor frowned in puzzlement. “Larnox? Nope. No such thing. Are you sure you heard correctly?” Rose shot him an annoyed scowl for doubting her hearing. “Right. Well, maybe Larnox is a family name, you know, like the Family Slitheen.”

“It looks like a giant jelly fish,” she offered.

“Hmmmmm,” the Doctor nodded slowly as pieces of the puzzle slid in place, “That narrow’s it down. What else?”

“It talked about harvesting humans for electricity, that it fed off electricity but needed more power to leave. I’m guessing it crashed here?”

The Doctor nodded. “About 3 years ago. First it gathered up all the refined metal on the planet to repair its ship and then it began gathering up food and fuel for itself.” Basic survival, the Doctor acknowledged, but he balked at the blatant disregard for the planet’s inhabitants. They may have been a less advanced species but they were still sentient. That should mean protection not exploitation. Not to mention what it had done to Rose.  
“And see this silver stuff?” Rose continued, tilting her head to indicate the room around them. “It seems solid enough, but it can become liquid in a second. And if it does, don’t let it touch you.” Rose couldn’t hide the tremor in her voice or the shudder that wracked her body. The Doctor tightened their embrace sympathetically. He had a very good idea what that was and he wasn’t happy.

“What does it taste like?” he asked her gently.

“What? How did you…?” He arched an eyebrow. “Tangy. Sour,” she shuddered again as she relived the unpleasant memory. Rose ducked her head but not before he saw unbidden tears.

White hot rage surged through the Doctor as his dark guess was confirmed by her silence. His precious Rose had been abused and that was nothing to be tolerated. Not on his watch. Not anywhere. “I am taking you back to the TARDIS right now,” he announced standing up and pulling Rose up with him.

“I assume that is the name of your ship?” They had been so preoccupied with each other that they had failed to notice the arrival of their captor.

“Larnox, is it? Or can I call you Larry?” Rose quietly giggled; she had made the same joke. The Doctor’s voice was congenial but there was steel behind the words and a muscle ticked along the side of his clenched jaw. “Oortan – that’s what it is, Rose. They live in the currents and eddies of the Oort cloud ices. Biologically they are a fourth cousin about... oh, seven times removed I suppose from the Rutan. Though both species vehemently deny it. “ He gently positioned Rose behind him and then turned to face their captor. With feet wide spaced and hands stuffed in his pants pockets, the Doctor was the ultimate illusion of nonchalance.  
“Tell me, didn’t the Sontarans try to make an alliance with you against the Rutan? How did that go?”

“Bah, they only wanted to exploit our physiology to make a weapon. Their arrogance made it unacceptable.”

“Like what you are doing now?”

“This is survival!”

“There are other ways to survive Larnox that do not require exploitation or abuse.” _Not to mention what you did to Rose Tyler_.

“But they are a lower life form. Primitive industrial development, no higher mental activity – “

“There is a difference between ignorance and arrogance, but I’m willing to concede that you began out of ignorance. The important question is will you persist in arrogance now?”

“Concede? Who is being arrogant now, Time Lord? Yes, I know who you are. I thought you were extinct. I could hardly believe my scans but then, based upon what the female is, I couldn’t really be that surprised either. I am giddy with my good fortune!” A rainbow ripped through his body.

“If you truly know who I am then you also know that the best thing you can do is release us. If you do that, I will do all I can to get you safely back home to your ices.”

“No, I don’t think so. Thanks to you time lords and your Time War our cloud was poisoned. The electrical waves in the ices fields were altered. We were forced to take to the stars to survive.” Larnox’s jelly body was changing colours rapidly as he became more emotional. “But we weren’t ready! Our bodies were ill suited for the harshness of deep space and our technology was inferior. Many of us were lost – starved or destroyed. We were cut off from our homes from our families. You know what that is like, don’t you Time Lord? The silence. The emptiness. No, I have no home for you to take me back to. I must make my own way now.” Larnox drifted closer displaying more purple than any other colour inside his gelatinous body.  
  
“The female was going to be my power source to finally leave this pathetic rock, but now that I have you as well, I shall do so much more! I can begin to build our species all over again. I will destroy this planet and make the debris habitable. I won’t have to hunt for another cloud, I can stay here. I can begin mitosis! Oortans will begin again!” There was a hint of madness in its voice, as if the horrors of the Time War, the pain of loss and the trauma of the crash had unhinged the alien.

Without taking his eyes off Larnox, the Doctor reached behind for Roses’ hand. She eagerly clasped it and stepped to his side. The story of the alien was sad and Rose felt an odd mixture of compassion and revulsion for the colourful alien jellyfish. She truly hoped Larnox would listen to reason and accept the Doctor’s help, but past experience had proven that rarely happened. Once someone thought they had the upper hand, they rarely changed their course.

“Larnox, this is your last warning. There are other places, safe places I can take you. You will not reduce this planet to a new Oort cloud. “ The Oortan began to laugh. “Release us or reap the consequences,” the Doctor ground out through gritted teeth. The On Coming Storm rumbled in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though Larnox is a baddie, I felt there needed to be some sympathy for it. Naturally Rose is the one who feels compassion but I didn't want to make this some twist on abuser/abusee dynamics. Thank you Lady_Inari for pointing me toward the Rutan and encouraging me to do some homework.


	7. They Never Listen Do They

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The villain is defeated and our heros find a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since it's a holiday for me, I was able to post two chapters today. Coming to the end of the story and I'm feeling the push to complete. Enjoy. And thanks for the many encouraging words.

“What can you do, Time Lord? You are without your time machine or any of your other Gallifreyan gadgets. My pet would have harvested all your precious metals before depositing you here. You are unarmed.” Larnox drifted closer in complete confidence and control. “You are mine and once I have harvested the energy from you and the female, I will find your ship and strip it down too!” Larnox’s voice was gleeful. The silver liquid that ringed Rose and the Doctor began to shimmer and dance.

“Sadly Larry, the TARDIS would be a very bitter pill to swallow, indeed. And I am in no hurry for either I nor my...er... female...” The Doctor paused and he glanced quickly at Rose. _What did Larnox say? Something about Rose being a sufficient source of power to get him off the planet? What had it meant knowing what she was had taken the surprise out of who he was?_

Before he could pursue this line of thinking, Rose muffled a scream. She shakily pointed to the ring of liquid silver. It was moving and they had run out of time. The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver suddenly appeared in his free hand. “Funny thing about trans-dimensional pockets… they’re trans-dimensional. Your pets could never find something that was not in this time and space dimension.”

He directed the sonic beam at the silver liquid. Larnox screamed as the silver seemed to go through rapid molecular change: solid, liquid, gas and back again. “No second chances,” the Doctor said with grim determination. The sequence increased until the process was a blur.

Rose’s and the Doctor’s hair began to stand on end as the static electricity in the area increased. A high pitched hum had Rose covering her one ear and pressing the other against the Doctor’s shoulder. The Doctor did not flinch but kept the sonic screwdriver pointed at the writhing ring encircling them.

“No! NO! STOP! You can’t do this! MercyyyyyyyAhhhhhhhh!” Larnox screeched with a voice not unlike fingernails on a chalk board. Lightning arced and cracked in the space around them. Rose couldn’t see the jelly fish creature anymore through the successive flashes of bright light that imploded like so many fireworks on the backs of her eyelids.

Suddenly a tremendous explosion knocked Rose and the Doctor into the air. The Doctor twisted his body in an attempt to catch Rose and cushion their fall. He succeeded in landing first and she succeeded in knocking the wind out of him with an unintentional but well placed elbow.

“Ow!” he wheezed.

“Sorry!” Rose rolled off the Doctor and then helped him stagger to his feet. She looked around in surprise. They were standing in a dome created of random bits of welded metal. It reminded Rose of the tents she made as a little girl with her mom’s dining room chairs and a patchwork quilt. In the air swirled motes of silver that were silently floating to the floor.

“Is this Larry’s ship?” she wondered. “Not much to look at.”

“I believe it was pretty torn up in the crash. A lot of this is from the people on the planet. Arc welded into the hull.”

“But, what happened, Doctor? Did he blow up when you destroyed his silver stuff?”

“Larnox was the silver stuff, Rose. The jelly fish image was only a projection. It’s how Oortans appear in the vacuum of space. It gave you a point of reference for communication.”

“He was the silver stuff?” Rose’s stomach lurched at this idea. “You mean we were inside him?” _And he was inside me?_

“Rather like in his stomach – if he’d had a stomach, which technically Oortans do not.” The Doctor was gestured to the silvery debris and shrugged, “You could say I gave him a fatal dose of indigestion.”  
  
Rose’s legs gave way in shock and she sat down abruptly. “We were going to be digested!” Rose felt faint and nauseous. She put her head between her knees and breathed deeply.

The Doctor knelt down beside her. “Rose? Are you alright?” He lifted her chin and tried to look into her eyes to see if she was concussed from the explosion. “Were you hurt? I’m sorry. It was the only way to get out once I knew it wasn’t going to listen to reason. Oortans are electrical creatures; I had to use the electricity against him. Basically I repeatedly reversed the polarity until his own molecular structure couldn’t contain it.”

Rose nodded, not fully understanding what had happened, but understanding that the Doctor had done only what he’d had to. Wordlessly she reached out for him, asking for a hug.

The Doctor pulled Rose onto his lap and gently rocked her. He pressed his lips to her hair willing away the horrible images he had of what she must have experienced in the time they were apart. While the Doctor regretted the damage the Time War had wrought on so many species, including the Oortans, he could not summon up even an ounce of regret for obliterating Larnox.

Eventually Rose calmed down enough to take a few steadying breaths and relax the viselike grip she had about the Doctors shoulders.

Anxious to get her back to the TARDIS and do a complete scan to make certain that Larnox had not done any lasting damage, the Doctor shifted her off of his lap. “Let’s get out of here. Without Larnox’s weather wielding drones to control it, the electrical storms will disappear. I should be able to summon the TARDIS to meet us on the summit without any trouble.”

“Doctor, Larnox said that he had harvested other people, people from the planet. That they had fed him and healed him.”

The Doctor sighed sadly. “Yes. I’m afraid none of them survived.”

“But, shouldn’t we look?” Rose was determined to put her experience behind her and the best way she knew how to do that was to help others.

“Yes. You’re right we should. Actually, I have a promise to keep.” Hand in hand they began an exploration of the Oortan ship. Six corridors branched off from the domed room: one for each tentacle of the projected image. The first four led to control rooms. Rose didn’t understand anything that she saw, but the Doctor got quite excited over a few discoveries, some of which he quickly shoved into his handy transdimensional pockets.

Along the fifth corridor, appearances changed. There were small antechambers every few feet. The first few were empty, but then they began to find grisly inhabitants, mummified skeletons in various degrees of decomposition. The Doctor explained that the Oortan had been drawing electrical energy from them. They would have been unconscious for the process and would have died without pain. Rose shuddered and swallowed hard to keep down the contents of her stomach. She had seen quite enough and was ready to turn back, when the Doctor suddenly got excited again.

“Oh! Oh! Could it really be?” he sprinted off down the corridor. “Can’t you smell it Rose? Or rather, can’t you not smell it?” He stopped before one of the last antechambers with a shout of triumph. “Yes!”

“What?” Rose jogged after him. As she drew near, she noticed that the fetid scent of decay was significantly fainter.

“Rose,” the Doctor gestured dramatically, “meet Tabinah!”

“Who is Tabinah?” she asked, helping the Doctor lift the unconscious form out of the antechamber.

“Tabelitha’s twin brother; Son of Menix and Manya.  Brother to baby Ja-Jee. Nice folk. Gave me supper. He was the last person abducted before you and because he was so young, he survived better than some of the others.”

“So young?” Rose looked at the slight body in the Doctor’s arms. His hair was snow white and his face was wrinkled and weathered.

“He’s twelve years old – in human terms. This is what Larnox did to him,” the Doctor gazed at Tabinah compassionately. “I can’t restore his youth, but I can restore him to his family.”


	8. Because We Have A Time Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is busy being a doctor. Rose comes face to face with the aftermath of her abuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit long for a chapter, but I felt with all that had gone on it was important to address the details. Besides, we have a time ship so long is a very, very relative term...

The Doctor did summon the TARDIS and without a backward glance, bundled Rose and the unconscious Tabiniah inside and straightway to the infirmary.

He gently laid the small boy on the examination table and hooked up a scanner and monitor. While the Doctor wasn’t completely versed in his physiology he was confident that the basics could be sorted and an IV of electrolytes set up. A few hours of treatment should stabilize him and perhaps reverse some of the damage.

Rose watched quietly as the Doctor moved swiftly back and forth, but when he spun around to her she couldn’t quite hide a flinch. “I’m okay,” she said quickly. “Nothing a hot shower and a change of clothes can’t fix.” This was one side of the Doctor that Rose never quite adjusted to: the medical doctor. She couldn’t divorce the man she fancied from the clinician; it was embarrassing to have him poke and prod her like some lab animal.

The Doctor pinned her to the floor with his intense gaze. She could see the anger that swirled in the brown darkness. She knew that anger was not directed at her, but it was riveting none the less. “Rose,” he began patiently, “I would feel much better if you’d let me do a quick check over. You’ve been through a lot. Aside from the ordeal with Larnox there is the whole question of why he thought you to be such a tremendous energy source.”

Rose shook her head. “I’m fine, really Doctor. No breaks or cuts or even bruises.”

“That’s external injuries, and that’s good, very good, but Rose...” he was rubbing the back of his neck – a sure sign that he was just as uncomfortable as she. “What about internal?”

Rose shook her head, twisting the hem of her ruined sweater.

“Rose! You were raped!”

“No! It wasn’t... it wasn’t like that...” Rose didn’t want to have this personal a conversation with the Doctor. She sent an urgent plea to the TARDIS to just whisk her away – anywhere but here – but instead the ship erased the infirmary door. Rose growled her frustration.

“Rose, please! I know how Oortan conduct their scans and probes – it’s barbaric,” his voice was dark with bitterness. “Rape isn’t always sexual, but it is always about domination. You have been brutalized and I wasn’t... I couldn’t... I just need...” He was floundering, battling his own emotional storm and trying to offer Rose some treatment, solace and apology. “Please. Please let me be your Doctor.”

Both of them had a sudden flashback to a place and time when similar words were spoken and they hastily looked away. A tense moment stretched between them and then Rose huffed in resignation. “Okay. Okay, but just a quick scan. I’m cold and wet and I really, really want to get changed. ‘Sides, we need to get Tabiniah back to his family as soon as possible, yeah?”

“A quick scan it is then, but you have to promise me we’ll run more tests later if I find anything, anything I don’t understand or like. And as far as Tabiniah is concerned – time machine, remember?”

He got her to hop up on a second examination table that appeared as soon as Rose agreed to the testing. With efficiency he clipped a sensor to her middle finger and ran his sonic screwdriver over the surface of her body. He was careful never to touch her but he moved the device much slower than usual as if to gather more data. He then plugged the sonic device into a port on the medical diagnostic machine.

Next he got her to stick out her tongue which she quickly obliged with a slight giggle: not often a human got to stick their tongue out at a time lord. The Doctor smiled slightly, recognizing her humour and then took two swabs: one from the top side and one from the underside of her tongue. These he smeared on two clear plates and slid them in to a pair of ports on the same machine. He took a few minutes to type on the keyboard before turning back towards her.

“Okay,” he said with some reluctance, “I guess that’s it for now. It will take a few moments for analysis.”

“Can I go now?”

“Yeah.”

Rose hopped down and hurried to the reappeared door. “I’ll only be a mo’,” she assured him.

The Doctor rolled his eyes are her retreating back. He knew from past experience that Rose always took more than “a mo”. While it was true that the TARDIS could travel in space and time, time inside the ship ran primarily in linear fashion. He knew he was going to miss her even before she got to her room. With a sigh, the Doctor turned back to stare at the calculations running on the screen, willing them to work faster and provide him with good news.

  
Rose began shedding clothes as soon as she entered her room. She pulled her sweater over her head while she toed off her sneakers and tossed both in the corner. Next she shimmied out of her still damp denim and peeled off wet socks adding to the pile of bad memories. It would be awhile she suspected before she would be comfortable around thunder storms and she strongly doubted she would ever want to wear this particular outfit ever again. That was a shame too because she’d like that blue sweater before… well, before.

Contrary to her wishes, the TARDIS had filled the tub with steaming water and vanilla scented bubble bath. “I wanted a shower,” she complained half heartedly, feeling the need to scrub away any remnants of the silver liquid. The TARDIS hummed soothingly in the back of her mind and seemed to pull her toward the bath instead.

Her muscles ached from being thrown in the explosion. With all the running one had to do traveling with the Doctor, she was very fit, but getting knocked around and banged about still made Rose wince so a long soak would probably feel very good. It was hard to believe that less than 12 hours had passed. Naked, Rose gratefully slid beneath the water. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and let the heat of the water seep into her chilled sore flesh.

The viscosity of the fluid around her began to thicken. Once again Rose felt the relentless invasion of the alien. The liquid closed in over her head, filling her nose and ears, blinding her. This time she was going to die. She began to thrash about, and with a terrified gasp she was clawing her way out of the tub and away from the water.

Rose grabbed a towel and began to ruthless rub away at her shaking body. She was panting, fighting down the panic and the black spots in her vision. Just a nightmare, she told herself. You dozed off and had a stupid nightmare. She continued to rub her skin raw until the TARDIS took the towel out of her hands and finished drying her skin and hair with a gentle warm exhaust.

On her bed she found laid out for her some soft yoga pants and T-shirt, underwear and socks. “Thanks,” she told the helpful ship, “I’m not feeling up to making any wardrobe choices just now.” Rose dressed herself mechanically, but when she turned to her dresser to do her hair and make up, her control shattered. She buried her face in her hands and began to deeply sob.

The adrenaline of the adventure was gone and Rose was left with the ashes of truly bad experience. Rose wasn’t an innocent. You didn’t live on the Estates without knowing about the seedier side of life. She’d been lucky – protected by a powerful mum and good friends, even when she’d been an idiot over that wanker Jimmy Stone. Still, she’d heard the stories, knew some of the people that hadn’t been so lucky. Part of the attraction of traveling with the Doctor had been the escape from the danger of living there. But in the end, danger was everywhere. With a watery laugh, Rose remembered asking him that: _Is it always this dangerous? Yeah._

She didn’t mind the aliens, not even the monsters. Not until now, not until it had got so... personal. Was it enough to make her want to go back to mum? No. She’d made her promise and couldn’t imagine ever leaving the Doctor. But right now she acknowledged that having mum would feel really, really nice. While the TARDIS tried to comfort her telepathically, it just wasn’t the same as a fleshy shoulder to cry on.

  
When “a mo” stretched into 39 minutes 7 seconds, the Doctor acknowledged the TARDIS’ prompts and went in search of Rose. Her preliminary tests had come back wonderfully normal except for a residual arton energy signature that excited and terrified him. How had she retained that little bit of Bad Wolf? How could he have missed it and how could he have never thought to scan her before this?

Well, a) He’d seen first hand how powerful Bad Wolf was, so she could do anything and he shouldn't be so surprised; b) He’d been hit full on by the force of vortex, and as soon as he’d kissed her (devastating enough in its own right) he’d been dying and less than his competent self; and 3... or was that c) He’d been pretty preoccupied with regenerating and then more adventuring.

Rose had been brilliantly healthy and if she’d seemed able to keep up physically better than most of his previous companions, he’d chalked it up to her youth and all around perfection. Now it appeared that she had a bit of arton energy to help with all that and he’d never noticed. He’d dismissed her greater affinity with the TARDIS as a simple byproduct of a shared adventure. He’d ignored his own heightened telepathic connection, thinking it was his affection that was making him more and more sensitive to Rose and her thoughts and emotions. Big impressive Time Lord missing something as important as that – it was really pretty embarrassing and he was mildly glad that Romana wasn't around to point it out to him.

However, foremost in his mind right now was Rose’ mental health. She was the bravest woman he knew but what she’d been forced to suffer....

He stood outside her door and tried to listen. When his ship gave him the mental equivalent of a shove between the shoulder blades, he knocked. “Rose? Rose, may I come – “ the door unlatched and swung in under his hand.

His beloved companion sat curled in a ball on the floor by her bed. Without a second thought about her privacy or personal space, he rushed in and knelt. A tentative hand touched her knee. “Rose?”

She raised her head and skewered him with blood shot eyes. “I’m sorry,” she hiccupped. “I thought I was okay, but I kinda lost it...” her voice faded away.

“Oh, Rose!” he scooted around to sit beside her on the floor and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m so, so sorry! If I hadn’t...”

He continued to berate himself until Rose couldn’t stand another guilty word. “Stop it,” she commanded. “You didn’t know. Even time lords don’t know everything, so stop having a god complex. What Larnox did to me is upon him, not you.” She paused to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand. “The main thing is you got me out, yeah? It’s just that it all happened so fast and I didn't get a chance...” she shuddered and leaned into him. “I fell asleep in the tub and had a nightmare,” she confessed.

He squeezed her shoulders sympathetically. “I can help with that,” he offered cautiously. “It’s a little trick time lords have. I can help you forget.”

Rose twisted around to watch his face. “How? You got a little blue pill or something?”

“What? No! Well, yes I do, but chemically induced amnesia doesn’t last and can become seriously habit forming.”

“What then? You want to mess with my mind, like you did at the Game Station?”

“That wasn’t me! I didn’t! I would never intrude into your mind uninvited. That was Bad Wolf, or the TARDIS or you yourself who blocked those memories. Me, I was too busy regenerating and trying to hold it all together until you regained consciousness before I completely changed.”

Rose was momentarily distracted. “You mean you waited for me to wake up so you could say goodbye?”

The Doctor nodded. “That’s why I slipped into a healing coma afterwards. Once the process starts, delaying it or attempting to tamper with it is very dangerous, especially without other time lords around to monitor. That’s why I had all the excess energy that attracted the pilot fish.” _Arton energy, like Rose is carrying around with her right now, energy the Oortan had discovered. What would it mean for Rose in the future?_

Rose derailed the Doctor’s train of thought with a soft hand on his cheek. “I didn’t know,” she murmured. “I thought you didn’t want me to remember.”

“I thought your memories were blocked for your own protection. And I had crossed a line when I kissed you.”

“You kissed me?” Nobody had told her that part. Her thumb traced his cheekbone.

“I had to absorb the time vortex from you before you burned,” he whispered. Their heads had drifted closer together and his breath ghosted across her face.

“Maybe you can help me forget again.”

“Just so you know, Rose Tyler, this is not my usual course of treatment.”

“Still it might work. You could experiment?”

“In the name of science?”

“In the name of something, yeah...”

With the arm that was around her, he pulled her in and pressed his lips to hers.

The Doctor had always scoffed at the cliche fireworks scene in the old romantic movies Rose cajoled him into watching. Now he understood. Pleasure center synapsis in his brain were firing in continued succession causing simulated light to explode on the back of his eyelids. The concussion of air resulting from the firework explosions mimicked the pounding of his dual hearts and the rush of super heated blood that coursed through his veins. Blimey, but didn’t those human film makers know a thing or two after all!

Rose gave as good as she got. While a part of her was jumping up and down squealing in glee that they were finally kissing, the majority of her simply basked in the healing of his tender caress. _My Doctor_ , she thought. As his lips moved over hers, she opened to him, touching and tasting and drinking in.

For a first (proper) kiss it was very innocent. When Rose gasped for air, the Doctor broke it off and pulled back a few inches. He stared at her in wonderment. “That was brilliant.”

“It was,” she agreed smiling shyly.

“Better than a blue pill, although I suspect even more habit forming.”

“Better than messing with my head too.”

“Well...” the Doctor hedged, “not necessarily. Going into someone’s mind can be extremely... er...pleasurable...”

Rose was fascinated by the blush that was tinting his ears, but not convinced. “I don’t know, Doctor. I still don’t think I want that. As much as this adventure was terrible, I really don’t want to forget it either. Memories are important – even bad ones. I just want to learn to deal with them, you know?”

The Doctor nodded, impressed again with Rose’s strength and character. She certainly wasn’t a coward. “My brilliant, brave Rose Tyler.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I will help you however I can, and I promise I won’t tamper with your memories unless you ask me to. Do you think we can get up now?”

They stood up and both were suddenly shy, standing in her bedroom. Rose was embarrassed over her emotional meltdown. She always tried to be strong, to be a good and loyal companion. The Doctor deserved someone who could handle whatever the universe threw at them.

The Doctor was nervous. He had kissed Rose Tyler and he had a very strong desire to do it again. Did she want another kiss? Was it too soon after the first one? He knew he was a greedy sod, but she had felt so good in his arms. She assuaged his loneliness in ways no one, even his own people, had ever done. He needed her. What did she need? Suddenly his brain kicked in.

The Doctor fished around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a protein bar. “You haven’t eaten in nearly 17 hours,” he explained. “I know it’s not as good as a proper meal, but it will boost your caloric deficiency and supply vital minerals and vitamins.”

“Okaaay...” bemused Rose accepted the bar. Suddenly she was very hungry and ripped open the package.

The Doctor nodded as he watched her eat. “You should probably sleep too. A good kip and then we can go deliver Tabiniah to his family. “

She stopped mid chew, panic flickering in her eyes. “Couldn’t we just go straight away? I’m not tired – too much adrenaline, I guess. Please Doctor? I know it’s a time machine and all but haven’t they waited long enough?”

The Doctor frowned. He knew that Rose was procrastinating, that she was afraid to go to sleep and he truly hated that she was feeling that way. On the other hand, once he got Tabiniah back to his family they could leave and put this whole sorry mess behind them. He liked the idea of having Rose to himself for a bit, maybe help her do some more “forgetting”. Oh, but he was selfish...

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“Positive.”

He gestured for her to precede, “Allons-y.”

Rose paused beside him for a moment and stretched up to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Thank you,” she murmured and headed out the door.

The Doctor watched her exit, his fingers lingering where her lips had just been. He might be called the On Coming Storm, but he was beginning to think Rose Tyler was the Hurricane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want to gloss over Rose's rape and resulting PTS, however I didn't want to linger and be morbid either. I hope I struck a good balance.


	9. Epilogue: The Last Piece of the Puzzle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose loved to watch the Doctor when he was like this. With the benefit of his time-sense, the Doctor received the final piece to this storm tossed puzzle.

Rose loved to watch the Doctor when he was like this. The meeting of the village elders had been hastily convened in the early morning hours. Once the elders got over the shock of seeing a “woman with sun in her hair” they were a congenial and welcoming towards them. Of course that had lasted only a few minutes until with his time lord wit and words, the Doctor explained that the earthquake and the subsequent changes in the weather had not been the act of an angry god but actually a crash landed alien from the stars.

When the room erupted with exclamations of dismay and the beginnings of panic, he had jumped up on the table and whistled shrilly to regain a manageable silence. Then he had quickly assured them that the alien had been dispatched by your’s truly and would be troubling them no more. He had looked at her over the heads of the elders with a considering stare. He caught her yawning and arched an eyebrow before he was once more distracted by a leader’s question.

The Doctor had had to spend considerable more time denying he was their benevolent god, Vizushira, come to rescue them. “Why do you lot always have to have something to worship? Why can’t you just believe in yourselves?” he bemoaned in a moment of frustration running his hand through his ruffled hair.

It was actually Tabinah who saved the day. After a tearful private reunion, Menix and his family arrived at the elder’s meeting ready to add their testimony to the Doctor’s. When the elders saw Tabinah returned and his dramatic prematurely aged appearance, they were amazed.

Tabinah was making a rapid recovery in terms of energy thanks to the Doctor’s 27th century electrolyte cocktail. He was able to walk with only a little bit of assistance from his father. The elder’s invited him to speak and when he told them of his experience riding in the storm (thankfully he had no recollection of his time with Larnox), the elders proclaimed him a holy man. He was the only one of them to ride the storm and survive, and because he basically now was returned from the dead, he was a sacred gift from Vizushira. All the elder’s attention shifted from the Doctor to one of their own.

With some subtle coaching from Menix and the Doctor, Tabinah announced that the weather patterns should return to normal very quickly. (The Doctor had already offered to Menix to sow a few ion particles into the clouds upon departure to help spur on the first cycle of natural rain fall.)

Tabinah explained that all the stolen metal was up on the top of Mount Hu and that expedition parties should be sent to retrieve it now that the creature was gone. Fair distribution would be overseen by Tabinah’s father, with guidance by his miracle son of course, and people would once again be able to use metal to their advantage. Their culture’s development would quickly catch up and get back to normal.

He went on to say that the remains of their lost villagers and those who had been taken from other areas should be collected by the priests and given full honours. Those that could be identified would be returned to their families and those who could not would be interred in a mass grave in a cave on Mount Hu. He asked that a monument be built to acknowledge their sacrifice.

As the Doctor listened to Tabinah hold the room, a large piece of this adventure’s puzzle finally slid into place. Instead of chastising the TARDIS for making him travel so far to rescue Rose, he was going to have to congratulate her for without dropping him off in the village he would never have met Menix and his family or learned about the stolen boy.

It would have been far, far too easy to take Rose and leave the Oortan ship without searching for survivors if he hadn’t made his promise to Tabelitha. If he had done that, then Tabinah might have died and never become the first leader to unite 17 of the nearby villages, marry a girl from half a continent away and give birth to the son who would invent their equivalent to mechanized propulsion... The Doctor smiled as he gazed at the time lines stretching out before him. He was happy to have played a part.

The Doctor and Rose watched the proceedings for a few moments and then slipped quietly out of the meeting hall. As they walked back to the TARDIS, Tabelitha ran after them.

“Wait!” she called stopping them from entering. “I wanted to thank you again for saving my brother. You promised you would and you did. I know you say you’re not a god, but you are definitely a hero.” Tabelitha reached up and hugged the Doctor tightly about his waist. “I wish you would stay.”

The Doctor smoothed Tabelitha’s hair before gently stepping back. “We can’t; places to go, people to see.”

“And some to rescue?” the little girl asked, dreams in her eyes.

Rose slid her hand into the Doctor’s. “Absolutely!” she said with a winning smile. “What do you reckon, Doctor? Should we go look for some Oortan and see if we can help them find a new cloud to live in?” Rose wanted to separate the actions of Larnox from his species. Perhaps helping some of them could help her move on and she knew helping correct the damage of the Time War always helped the Doctor.  
“Perhaps.” The Doctor squeezed Rose’s hand and together they entered the TARDIS. Looking for Oortan was not on his mental to-do list and he seriously doubted it would be any time soon. Now all he had to do was persuade one lovely pink and yellow girl that his ideas of activity were ever so much more interesting.  He wondered for the millionth time if she was ready for another kiss yet...

A moment later in a gust of wind and with a strange moaning sound, the little blue box faded from Tabelitha’s sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cue theme music as the TARDIS whisks our beloved duo away. I hope you enjoyed reading it. I tried to make it as much like a TV episode as possible, although I do confess to some cannon departures. Small ones. ;)


End file.
